“More Cops Tax” Postponed Again

The County Commission once again postponed the More Cops Tax proposal
until next month, when County Commissioner Tom Collins says an
in-depth look at the financial picture of the Las Vegas Metropolitan
Police Department can take place.
The More Cops proposal has been on the county commission agenda for
months and now it is postponed again until the second meeting in
December.
In a previous meeting, a long line of people were on hand to express
their dissatisfaction with the new tax issue. In last Tuesday’s
meeting, another twelve residents spoke against Commissioner Tom
Collins’ infatuation with giving Sheriff Gillespie the money he wants.
Collins walked out of the meeting before any of the speakers were able
to express their dissatisfaction on the issue, but not before he
tabled the item for a future meeting.
In that last meeting, the proposal to allow the full 0.15 percentage
point — the amount allowed by the Nevada Legislature — was favored
only by Commissioners Larry Brown and Lawrence Weekly, both of whom
teamed up with Commissioner Tom Collins.
This time all the commissioners voted to table the item, but
Commissioner Chairman Steve Sisolak allowed the speakers to express
their opinions, stating that it was not fair that these people were
there to speak not knowing that the item was going to be tabled.
It is unknown what, if any, benefit the speakers would get to speak
after the item was tabled to vote. Calls made to several of the
commissioners after the meeting requesting a comment on what took
place were not returned on time for this edition of Las Vegas Tribune.
Sheriff Gillespie left in the very early stage of the meeting without
speaking to anyone. Sources not too reliable told the Las Vegas
Tribune that the Sheriff was seen with Commissioner Collins after both
left the county building, but the veracity of that information was not
confirmed by other more reliable sources.
Many of the regulars at the county commissioners meeting were
disappointed that the proposal was tabled before they were able to
express their objections.
Some of the speakers believe that the tax raise is not necessary.
A woman who spoke at the meeting told the board that all the incidents
and crimes already occurred before the police arrive, regardless of
how many more officers they might hire.